SotC: The Rise of Rebellion
by Spearforce
Summary: Under the oppressive rule of the Confederacy, seeds of rebellion are being sown, and classic heroes play a whole new role in the galaxy...


FROM THE AUTHOR: Guess who's back? My apologies for not putting this up sooner... apparent, AU fanfics don't write themselves. But, in any case, I'm back now, and hopefully I'll be posting more in the future.

This the the sequal to my "Shadow of the Confederacy" story. If you haven't read that yet, I wouldn't advise reading this, because this won't make any sense. If you have, enjoy the first part of my new story arc, "The Rise of Rebellion"!

END AUTHOR'S NOTE.

_Lake Country, Naboo, 12 ABC_

"I can't just sit here anymore, Padmé!" Anakin exclaimed, voice laced with frustration. "Especially after what they did to Alderaan."

Padmé took a step towards Anakin, frowning. "Ani..."

"They razed the Capital, Padmé!" Anakin interrupted, stopping her sentence and her advance. "Killed the Organa family in public for so-called 'crimes against the state', and then sold most of the population off to the Zygerrians! And those that weren't sold are branded as second-class citizens throughout the rest of the galaxy now! How can I sit here, safe and comfortable, while things like this happen?" Anakin paced about the room as he ranted, as restless as a caged nexu. "I've got to do something..."

Padmé clasped her hands, worried but resigned. She had always know that this day was coming. Being, for the most part, raised by Jedi had placed a certain restlessness in Anakin. He had trouble adapting to the idea of settling down, having an actual home. Add that to the steadily worsening galactic situation, it was no wonder he wanted to leave. And she honestly couldn't blame him... there was a time when she would have been equally upset. But being married... raising children... it had tempered her somewhat. She still understood the fire that drove her husband, however, and so tried not to temper it. "Where will you start?" She asked after some contemplation.

"I've heard of another Jedi survivor, Master Rahm Kota. He used his own militia during the Droid Wars, and now is using it to perform surgical strikes against the Confederacy." Anakin paused, thinking. "I'll start with him, if I can get to him before... Vader does." He never used the former name of his former master. It was easier to consider them different people than to admit that Obi-Wan Kenobi, hero of the Droid Wars and the closest thing Anakin had ever had to a father, had fallen to the Dark Side, going so far as to killing Count Dooku and assuming his place, declaring himself Emperor and making Ventress... Ventress!... his Empress. There was still a Confederate Council, composed mostly of the original member, and there was still a Confederate Senate, but they were both just for show. Everyone knew where the real power in the galaxy lay.

Anakin shook the thoughts away. He needed to get moving. He couldn't allow the past to hinder him. He looked across the room at his wife, standing silently, watching him, and wished he didn't have to leave her. That's when he got an idea.

"Come with me." He said simply, excitement showing in his eyes.

Padmé crossed her arms, cocked her head, and smiled at him. "I was going to do that anyway. You're not leaving me behind." The two crossed to the other and met in a fierce embrace. "I know what this means to you, Ani, and I don't like the Confederacy any more than you... so I want to help you any way I can."

Suddenly, someone cleared their throat from the doorway. Anakin and Padmé looked over, slightly startled, and saw Luke and Leia watching them both intently. "Can we come too?" Luke asked, looking at his father with eager eyes.

"Hey! I was gonna ask!" Leia piped up, glaring over at her twin brother and crossing her arms. Luke shrugged.

Anakin laughed, then grew serious as he knelt to look both of his children in the eyes."How much about where we're going do you know?"

Luke and Leia exchanged a glance. "Um... not much. We just heard that you and Mom are going somewhere." Luke ventured, a little sheepishly, as it occurred to him that he had no idea where he had just volunteered to go.

Leia held no such reservations. "I don't care where you and Mom are going! I want to come! I've never been anywhere!"

Anakin was still serious. "Luke, Leia, you will get to come along. But I want you to understand where we're going. Life won't be easy... we're going to go and do our best to restore justice to the galaxy."

Leia's eyes brightened. "We're gonna go scrap some droids!"

Luke's brow furrowed. "Are you sure we're ready?"

Leia elbowed her brother, hard. "Luke! We've been taught how to be Jedi since before we could walk! Of course we're ready." Luke frowned at his sister and rubber the spot where she had elbowed him, but didn't say anything.

Anakin watched the two of them with slightly raised eyebrows. "This doesn't mean that we'll stop training. I'm going to teach you two everything I know. It's just that the lessons you'll be learning from now on are going to be learned in practice. Field Training." Both Luke and Leia seemed to like that idea. Behind Anakin, Padmé crossed her arms again, not liking that she was putting her children in danger but knowing it came with having Anakin Skywalker for a father.

"Alright, now go pack up. I want to leave within the next few days if we can." Anakin said, pushing his kids towards the door. Both scampered off.

"Any idea where we'll find this... Master Kota?" Padmé asked, uncrossing her arms.

Anakin straightened and turned to look at her. "I've got a pretty good idea, yeah."

Genonosian orbit, Command Bridge of the Invisible Hand, 12 ABC

Grievous was barely maintaining his civility. He had just been handed what was, in his eyes, a slap in the face, and he was expected to simply bow and take it. Well, he had other plans. "I can easily handle this situation myself, my lord. There is no need to-"

"There is every need, General." The cold voice of Lord Kenobi cut in, stopping Grievous in his tracks. "You have had several opportunities to capture this Rogue Jedi, and you have failed. Therefore, I am sending someone whom I believe can handle the situation." The holographic image of the Confederate Emperor glared at the Supreme Commander of the Droid Army, daring him to make another argument.

Grievous took the challenge, trying for a different approach. "But my lord, the fleet is already in position. Delaying the attack now to wait for your new apprentice-"

"There will be no waiting, general." Kenobi interrupted again. "He has arrived."

Just then, a Pilot Droid spoke up. "Sir, a lone fighter has just jumped out of hyperspace and is heading for the landing bay."

Grievous fumed. Kenobi had gone behind his back and sent his apprentice to him before telling him about it. It was a clever move on Kenobi's part, and Grievous hated him for it. But there wasn't anything to be done about it now. "As you wish, my lord." He said, bowing to the image of his master as it cut off. Then he looked to the Pilot Droid that had informed him of the fighter's approach. "Give that craft full clearance, and send a company of Hunter Droids to meet him. He is to be brought directly to me."

"Roger, roger." The Droid confirmed, then set about making the necessary arrangements.

_Genonosian orbit, aboard the Twilight, same time_

Anakin sat impatiently behind the control panel of the Twilight, a personal cruiser that Padmé had acquired and Anakin had modified for this exact sort of thing. The ship was running on silent... only the absolutely necessary systems were online. Everything else was off, making them practically invisible to the Confederate Fleet. It wouldn't stand up to a close examination, but he knew that Droids didn't look for anything they weren't directly ordered to. And given the presence of a ragtag fleet of Rebel ships swarming the nearby shipyard, Anakin was gambling on all of their attention being directed towards them. A lone, unmarked cruiser running on minimal power would go unremarked.

In the co-pilot seat beside him, Luke gawked at the gleaming Confederate fleet. An assembly of six Providence -class destroyers, four Trade Federation Missile Frigates, seven Munificent-class frigates, three refitted Lucrehulk-class battleships, five Bulwark and the new experimental Subjugator-class heavy cruiser, it was obvious Grievous wasn't messing around. Anakin watched as Luke's gaze drifted from them to the Rebel fleet, which was composed of a couple of obviously second-hand DP20 frigates and old Bulwark guarded by a flimsy line of fighters that included the outdated ARC-170, the Z95-Headhunter, and a handful of BTL-B model bombers, inexplicably assuming a defensive parameter.

"Why don't they run, dad? They're outgunned!" Luke asked, clearly upset by the obvious imbalance of power.

Anakin studied the star line and considered his answer. He had asked the same question to himself. Surely this station wasn't this vital. A lot of lives were about to be thrown away, when they could have been saved if Kota had simply destroyed the station and vanished again. Kota knew this... so then he must be after something more than just the station. "It's a trap." He said finally, understanding dawning on him.

Luke frowned. "A trap?"

Anakin decided this was a good teaching moment, before the battle began. "Think, son. What defences do a station of this class normally have?"

Luke thought about what he knew of Confederate military protocol. "Um..." His gaze drifted back to the Rebel fleet. "... More than what that fleet should be able to take out?"

Anakin chuckled and nodded. "A lot more. So what does that tell you?"

Luke looked lost as he studied the fleet, as though they held his answers. "That they had more ships when they got here?"

Anakin shook his head. "A battle like that would leave a-"

"Debris field." Luke finished, catching on. "But their isn't one. Or at least not on big enough." Anakin nodded approvingly. "Is that why the Droids aren't attacking yet? They're looking for the trap?"

"Probably. Grievous is no idiot. He'll sense the trap as clearly as we do."

"So what are we waiting for?" Luke asked, turning his gaze from the assembling fleets to his father.

"The battle to start. It'll be easier to slip in once everyone else is occupied." He looked over and gave his son a smile. "And more fun."

Landing Bay 1, the Invisible Hand, same time

The dark, sleek fighter entered the hangar bay and set down with only the slightest hiss of hydraulics. The lights in the bay did nothing to illuminate the ship... it did not reflect light, but rather seemed to absorb it. Even to the Hunter Droids sent to escort the fighters passenger to the bridge, built and programed to be able to take on the most hostile of foes and completely lacking any form of emotion, the ship set something off akin to worry.

The cockpit opened without a sound, and a massive Zabrak stepped out. Standing at 2.18 meters in height and clad almost entirely in dark body armor, any humanoid would have been filled with apprehension at the appearance of such a powerful figure. The beast's eyes glowed a Sith yellow, and his skin was tattooed in the traditional Zabrak style, boasting yellow and black patterns. At his side hung a double-bladed lightsaber which he made no attempts to conceal. Clearly not an apprentice you send on subtle missions. This was a Sith of brute force.

He regarded the Droids dispassionately, showing absolutely nothing to them. "Take me to the General." He commanded in a deep voice void of emotion.

The Droids gave a stiff nod. "Roger roger."

They lead him through the ship and to the command bridge, two in front and two behind. The Zabrak didn't seem to mind being led about like a prisoner... he was well aware that, if he so desired, he could easily rid himself of his escort. They were merely a formality. Grievous had another think coming if he thought to control Savage Opress.

_Central Control room, Confederate space station, same time_

Jedi General Rahm Kota studied the holographic layout before him, a real-time display of the ships around the stations. All friendly ships were shown in blue, all hostile ships shown in red. By all appearances, the red ships outnumbered the blue, but that didn't matter too much in the plan. They didn't have to win, just give the pretense of defending the station. No, they all knew what they were doing, and Kota wasn't worried about them... his attention was fixed on the lone grey dot out to the side, not aligning itself with either fleet, merely floating there.

It could be an asteroid... there were plenty of those around Genenosis... but it was nowhere near the asteroid belt, and it wasn't going anywhere, so it wasn't one that was passing through. It gave off only the faintest of power readings, so there was the possibility that it was a ship, but then the questions were whose ship it was, and what it was doing. The sensors on-board the station were not precise enough to tell whether or not there were any life signs aboard it or not without being obvious, which would both tip who or whatever it was that they had been caught, as well as alert the Droid fleet as to its presence. Which he didn't want to do, assuming that they didn't already know it was there.

Kota couldn't put a finger on it, but he had the sense that the unmarked ship... if that's what it was... was friendly. Maybe it was the Force. Maybe it was his intuition as a seasoned general. Maybe it was both. But whatever it was, it wasn't a feeling he planned on acting against- similar feelings had saved him in the past. Like the one that happened just before Order 66 had been executed.

Kota returned his attention to the Confederate fleet. They were finally moving, assuming an active attack formation and starting their crawl towards the station. Kota allowed himself a battle-hardened smile.

"Commander, it looks like our friends have taken the bait. Get ready to spring the trap."

Outside, the first wave of Droid Fighters engaged the Rebel craft. The Droids had the obvious advantage of numbers, but the Rebel pilots were no dummies and, for the most part, veterans of the Droid Wars, so they knew a thing or two about the droid brains flying their opponents, even if upgrades had been made in recent years. In the end, a droid was a droid, and droids were dumb.

The plan was reasonably simple: pull the Droid fleet in around the station. Several modified stealth ships were waiting to get the crew off the station as soon as battle commenced. The station itself had been modified slightly as so to block all interior scans, making it impossible for the Droid fleet to know exactly what was inside- several decks worth of rhydonium, linked to a detonator which could be activated remotely by Kota. Once the Rebels were clear, Kota would detonate the rhydonium, completely destroying the space station and much of the surrounding Droid fleet. Hopefully, Grievous' command ship. It was a bit more underhanded than Kota liked, but he was fighting a rebellion, not a war. He couldn't afford the straightforward tactics of the Droid Wars. That kind of assault would just mean his men would die needlessly.

Kota kept a close eye on the battle outside, as well as the Droid fleet closing on the station. He had to time everything perfectly, or this whole operation could be his last... then a little red light came on. The grey dot had turned blue.

"It is a ship... what in the name of the Force is it doing?" Kota muttered, watching as the still-unidentified ship started moving towards the battle now raging around the station. He quickly turned to the troop nearest him. "See if you can't hail that ship."

"Dad..." Luke said uneasily as they neared the battle. Anakin didn't turn to look at his son... he was too focused on piloting the ship through the dogfights surrounding the station. "Dad...!" Luke said again, more insistently this time. Anakin managed to glance at his son this time.

"What is it?" He asked briskly, as he was discovering that his new ship, even with the modifications he had made, was no Jedi Starfighter.

"We're being hailed by the station." Luke responded, too taken up with everything going on around him to notice his father's tone of voice.

Anakin punched a button on the console. "Master Kota?"

"_Skywalker?!_" Kota exclaimed as the hail was received. "How the devil-!"

"No time." Anakin cut off the older Jedi. "We've got to get you out of there."

"Get back!" Kota barked. "You're jeopardizing the mission!"


End file.
